cPanel® Blog

3 Apps to Optimize Your Server Performance

Server performance isn’t just an issue for hosting providers, it’s a big deal for web admins, and most of all, for the person staring into a blank browser window, waiting for a page to load. Not only can an overloaded server lead to poor user experience, it can also cause a major hit to a site’s search engine ranking. That’s why we’ve decided to take some time to share some of our favorite cPanel apps and plugins that will not only mitigate the load on your servers, but also work to ensure visitors to your hosted sites are getting the best experience possible.

CloudFlare

Through the nifty use of cloud technology, this application allows hosting providers to deliver increased performance for the websites they host while also bolstering the overall security of their domains. CloudFlare’s service, which can be compared to digital gated community, allows a site’s static content to be cached and stored amongst their 23 global data centers. By creating these global proxies, it greatly reduces the chance of downtime and ensures that visitors access data from the region that will deliver content most swiftly. In addition, CloudFlare tracks and monitors malicious traffic on their network to create an organic blacklist that limits the potential for attacks and bad traffic for every customer using their service.Check out CloudFlare>

LiteSpeed

LiteSpeed Web Server is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement that streamlines the way data is retrieved and delivered between the server and client. LiteSpeed lowers server load through a method called event-driven architecture. Traditionally, when users access a web page, the server creates a unique process that delivers data directly to their client. As traffic increases, however, the server must continue creating individual processes, a method that exhausts additional memory. LiteSpeed turns these requests into cataloged events and acts as a middle man, handling all traffic through a single channel using a minimal amount of processes.

Varnish

Varnish is yet another amazing plugin that positions itself as a liaison between the client and server. This easy-to-install application improves performance and security, while offering both hosting providers and website owners an assortment of tools that can handle performance down to the subdomain level. Not only does Varnish integrate well with cPanel, it also can perform in conjunction with our entire suite of performance add-ons, including EasyApache, LiteSpeed, and Apache.

Check out the cPanel SDK and contribute to the expanding suite of tools created by brilliant minds in the cPanel community. Who knows – your widget just may become our next featured application.

JR

Equal parts prose, positivity, and passion, JR Miller is a web writer that likes using words to connect with people, enhance experiences, and solve problems. Approaching copywriting as both an art and a science, he believes that a good impression is one that stays with you after the browser window has closed.